Shifting drum for raschel and similar looms



Min-ch 7, 1950 M. E. LEBLANC 2,499,656

SHIFTING DRUM FOR RASCHEL AND SIMILAR LOOMS Filed April 14, 1947 Patented Mar. 7, 1950 SHIFTING DRUM FOR RASCHEL AND SIIVIILAR LOOMS Maurice Eugene Leblanc, Chatou, France, as-

signor to Socit Anonyme-des Tissages Lesur, Paris, France, a French company Application April 14, 1947, Serial No. 741,327 In France August 14, 1946 4 Claims. 1

Certain mechanical contrivances that are connected with Raschel or similar types of knitting machines, known under the name of shifting drums, allow a sideways movement of the drum along the line of its axis, and thus a variation in the knitting while work is in progress. A comparatively intricate subsidiary piece of gear pushes back the whole of the thread guide rods by one to two centimeters, in such a, way that the sideways change of position can be efiected in an area of the warp where the link malls are of different height.

The object of our invention is a simple device providing for this performance, and it may be applied to Raschel or similar kinds of knittin machines, when the change of position takes place on zero link mails i. e. smooth link mails. This device may work alone or with any other mechanical feeder of warp.

A description will now be given, as an example without any limiting clause, of a method of carrying the invention into effect.

The figure illustrates an elevation of the device used. As the figure shows, the link mail drum I is fitted in a bushing or sleeve 2 that is keyed to the shaft 3 and it may slide freely on this shaft. A spring 4 holds it in place on one side and the other side of the bushing carries a spindle 5 controlled by a bell crank 1 that is pivoted at 8 and carries a spindle 6, that is fixed rigidly with a sliding member 9 that carries a roller I0 running on the link mails II of the drum [2, and this drum is fixed on the shaft IS.

The revolving of the shaft I3 is controlled by the crankshaft of the machine on ordinary standard lines.

When travelling from one link mail H to the following one of different height, the drum I is shifted through a distance amounting to the thickness of one inserted link mail. The tappetrollers of the thread guide rods, of which the width is exactly the same as that of a link mail travel from one link mail to the following one; and thus the desired pattern may be made. The introduction of a slight change in the warp drum is enough for this purpose, so that the two or three warps tallying with one and the same rod may lie side by side, and tight enough against each other in order that tappet-rollers may travel with ease from any link mail to the other, without any chance of jamming.

The drum i as illustrated shows five flanges l4 separate the drum into four grooves (instead of the common standard number of six), each sufficiently wide to take three rows of link mails I5 2 side by side. The link mail chains may be of varying construction; the only hard and fast provision is to have three zero or smooth link mails placed side by side at the spot where the sideshifting of the drum occurs.

The tappet-roller of the thread guide rod slides from one link mail on to the other, and the knitting is thus changed.

What I claim is:

1.'In a Raschel or the like knitting machine having a crank shaft, a second shaft, a drum system, said system being shiftable to cause a variation in the knitting of the fabric, said system comprising a sleeve keyed to said second shaft and a drum mounted on said sleeve, a lever pivotally fixed on the frame of said knitting machine for shifting said sleeve longitudinally of its axis, a link-mails carrying drum controlling said lever, and a shaft controlled by said crank shaft for driving said last mentioned drum.

2. In a Raschel or the like knitting machine having a crank shaft, a second shaft, a drum system, said system comprising a sleeve keyed to said second shaft and a drum mounted on said sleeve, a spring urging said sleeve to a predetermined position, a lever pivotally fixed on the frame of said knitting machine for shifting said sleeve longitudinally along its axis, a linkmails carrying drum controlling said lever, a shaft controlled by said crank-shaft for driving said last mentioned drum, a sliding member to actuate said sleeve controlling lever and said last mentoined drum controlling the position of said sliding member.

3. In a Raschel or the like knitting machine having a crank shaft, a second shaft, a drum system, said system comprising a sleeve keyed to said second shaft and a drum mounted on said sleeve, a spring for urging said sleeve into a predetermined position, a lever pivotally fixed on the frame of said knitting machine for shifting said sleeve longitudinally of its axis, a linkmails carrying drum controlling said lever, a shaft controlled by said crank shaft for driving said last mentioned drum, a sliding member to actuate said sleeve controlling lever, the last mentioned drum controlling the position of said sliding member and the first mentioned drum being integral with said sleeve and provided with grooves allowing the passage therein of a plurality of chains with juxtaposed link-mails.

4. In a Raschel or the like knitting machine having a crank shaft, a second shaft, a drum system, said system comprising a sleeve keyed to said second shaft and a drum mounted on sliding member and the first mentioned drum in being integral with said sleeve and provided with four grooves allowing the passage therein of a plurality of chains with juxtaposed link-mails.

MAURICE EUGENE LEBLANC.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 36,697 Ayer Oct. 21, 1862 1,623,603 Springthorpe Apr. 5, 1927 2,208,698 Lawson et al July 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 293,695 Great Britain Sent. 19. 1929 

